The Night Sky
by bluekiwibubble
Summary: Tonks shows Remus the stars her family are named after. The Black's being named after stars always caught my imagination, so I found a star map and looked for them, and wrote this. One Shot.


Tonks shows Remus the stars her family are named after.

The Black's being named after stars always caught my imagination, so I found a star map and looked for them, and wrote this.

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**The Night Sky**

The night was warm and still, with the scent of honeysuckle drifting across the garden. The darkness wrapped around them like a silky cloak as they lay in the damp grass, gazing into the clear sky.

"You know," Remus said softly, "I've never looked at the stars before." He had one arm round Tonks, whose head was resting on his shoulder, and the other arm behind his own head.

Tonks looked at him.

"Really?"

"Well, not properly. The moon usually commands my attention if I happen to look up at night."

"Lucky for me you can't see it then." She could feel that Remus was smiling, and was glad that the moon was hidden from view by the house.

A comfortable silence fell, both of them watching the stars glimmering overhead. A muggle aeroplane, its lights flashing alternately red and white, cut across the night sky.

"Half my family are up there," Tonks murmured. "Not that I count most of them as family," she added darkly. Remus had a moment of confusion until he realised she meant the stars that were her family's namesakes. He hesitated a second, then spoke.

"Show me, Dora."

"Alright then. You see those three bright stars in a line?" Tonks pointed at Orion's belt.

"Yes."

"That's Merlin's wand. Go to the right and up a bit, and that bright one's Bellatrix." Tonks sensed Remus' surprise that she had chosen to mention her infamous aunt, but, as she thought to herself, there'd be barely anyone _to_ mention if she only pointed out good family members.

"Over there's the constellation Draco. The stars are supposedly in the shape of a dragon, but I can't see how. Then again, I can't see the shapes of any of them." She pointed out the eleven or so stars in the Leo constellation. "That's the Sphinx. Doesn't look anything like one, but the bright star in the bottom corner is Regulus."

Remus wriggled his arm.

"My shoulder's gone to sleep." In response Tonks moved her head off his arm onto the grass. She rested her cheek against his side and took his hand in hers.

All was quiet for a minute, until Remus said gently

"Dora? You were saying about the stars."

"Oh, yeah." Tonks smiled as she felt Remus squeeze her hand. Squeezing his back, she continued.

"Apparently there's a star called Alphard in the Basilisk constellation, but it's in the Southern Hemisphere of something, so you can't see it." She pointed at the sky with the hand that wasn't holding Remus'. "That constellation is Andromeda. Mum taught me about the different stars when I was little, then I learnt about them at Hogwarts as well…Remus!"

"What?" he asked, slightly startled.

"You must have done Astronomy at Hogwarts. Why don't you know any of this?"

"I missed a lot of the lessons."

"Ah, okay." Tonks paused. "There's one other star I know."

Remus knew who it would be.

"Go on."

He followed the line of her arm to a bright white star, which was easily visible as it outshone those around it.

"The brightest star in the sky," Tonks said softly, "is Sirius."

Remus gazed at the star, the memories of his friend making his heart ache with sadness.

"You really miss him don't you?" Tonks spoke gently.

Remus' voice was heavy as he replied.

"Yes."

She leant over to kiss him on the cheek, then buried her face in his neck and whispered

"Me too."

They lay like that for a long time. Eventually Remus spoke, breaking the quiet of the dark garden.

"Let's go in."

He stood up and pushed his hair out of his eyes before pulling Tonks to her feet. Neither of them letting go of the other's hand they padded across the damp grass and disappeared into the shadow of the house.

_Fin._

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Note: This isn't accurate. The constellations that the stars are inare right (at least, according to the Times 1982 atlas..), although obviously I changed the constellation names. I have no idea if their positions in the sky are right, or if they'd all be visible at the same time, at the time of year etc., so if any of that's wrong,it's not unintentional. Just not intentional either.

Please **review**. What do people think about Remus calling Tonks 'Dora'? I've been discussing with my friend it and cannot decide if I like it or not.


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